Westland (Mich.) Police & Fire Retirement System

Westland (Mich.) Police & Fire Retirement System

The Westland Police & Fire Retirement System was established by the City of Westland, Michigan, to administer defined-benefit pensions for municipal police officers and firefighters. The board of trustees includes city treasurer Steven J. Smith as president, along with representatives from both the police and fire departments, reflecting a governance structure typical of municipal pension funds. Strategy and deployment are oriented toward a diversified portfolio that includes an infrastructure allocation, a choice often associated with long-duration, inflation-hedging assets. The fund’s investment mix is not publicly detailed, but infrastructure positions suggest a focus on steady, income-producing assets rather than growth equity or venture capital. No specific portfolio companies or co-investment partners are disclosed in public records. The system is a member of the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS), a statewide professional network that provides educational resources and legislative advocacy for public retirement systems. The fund does not disclose the number of professionals on staff or the size of its asset pool; plan administrator Lisa Eggers handles day-to-day operations. As a municipal single-employer pension, the fund's structural differentiator is its narrow liability base — covering only police and fire retirees from one city — which contrasts with larger state-wide systems. This narrow scope can simplify asset-liability matching but also limits diversification across a broader workforce.